Fear of the Dark
by Wishing on Fireflies
Summary: Two prophecies. Six demigods. Gaea has been defeated, but in her place rises a dark entity that endangers Gods and mortals alike. A girl long thought dead appears with no memory of her past, Leo Valdez finally has a chance to shrug out from underneath his seventh wheel persona, and Nico di Angelo is forced into the role of hero as a primordial evil gains untold power.
1. Chapter 1

**Ch.1**

**...**

Leo Valdez _hated _Camp Jupiter. Maybe tensions had gone down a bit since the last war ended and Gaea was defeated, but by no means did that mean the freaking war zone was a place for Greeks. Especially not Greeks who may or may not have attacked the camp with a giant flying ship. It totally wasn't Leo's fault, but some of the nasty glares he was getting definitely said that the overly violent Romans thought otherwise.

"Calm down, Valdez," Leo muttered under his breath, giving himself a little pep talk as he moved farther and farther away from the newly repaired Festus and closer to the _Principia. _He really had nothing to worry about. Frank and Hazel were the Praetors now, and they were his friends. He wasn't under immediate danger of death and/or dismemberment.

Still… Rachael had cornered him back at Camp Half-Blood and practically ordered him to head cross country to the stupid Roman camp. Between that and the fact that the guard at the entrance to Caldecott tunnel joyfully volunteered to poke out his 'ugly Greek eyeballs' with a spear, Leo felt that his worry was perfectly legitimate.

Leo turned onto the main street and let out a sigh of relief when the fancy _Principia _came into sight. The big, bank-like building was beyond intimidating, but knowing that Hazel was inside was somewhat comforting. Well… and Frank, but the beefy Canadian still made him uncomfortable. Leo figured it was the burning stick thing. One second of no control, and _boom_. Leo could end Frank's life.

"Ella is nervous. The girl makes Ella nervous."

Leo started at the familiar voice, frowning slightly when he saw Ella the harpy perched on a statue in front of the _Principia_, muttering to herself about something or another. She visited Camp Jupiter every few months to see Hazel and Frank, so her presence itself wasn't that surprising. Leo just thought it wasa bit odd that she'd choose to hang out in the busiest part of camp. She usually wasn't a huge fan of crowds.

_Whatever_, thought Leo. _It doesn't really matter what she's going on about, as long as she doesn't start blabbering to me-_

"Oh! Ella sees elf. Elf is nice to Ella-"

_Ah. Crap_.

"Ella-" Leo started. He turned around to tell the harpy that he obviously _wasn't _an elf- hell, he'd even grown to a very respectable five foot nine- but the bird cut him off before he got the chance.

"_Shortly before the ultimate fight, To earth shall return Hades' angel of white_-"

"Whoa, whoa. That's just a little random. What are you talking about?"

"_To embark on a quest to find a godly friend_…"

"Quest? Did you just say quest?" Even though things had been calm for a couple years, Leo wasn't exactly eager to go running back out into the world of questing. Gaea's little party had given him all the adventure he could ever ask for, and the idea of being forced out on some other journey was about as far from appealing as possible. "Because I think you're mistaken. There's nothing else that can possibly be quested for, not after Gaea-"

"_And battle with giants 'til the bitter end_-" Leo blanched. _Giants? _"_Choices will be made and many will suffer. And the angel will reunite with either father or brother_."

Damn, damn, damn. Suffering and battling giants and something about _Hades_. Shit, that sounded depressing. Depressing and terrible, and-

Ella let out a small squawk and flew away.

The stupid bird prophesized about some huge, miserable-sounding quest, and then she _flew away_. Leo cursed. He was going to have to have a talk with Tyson about his flighty girlfriend and her big mouth. Of course, Tyson would probably just drool and say, "Ella pretty," but at least Leo would get to take his frustration out on _someone_.

Either way, Leo wasn't stupid. He knew that it would be dumb to keep a quest to himself. With a frown on his face, he rushed the last few feet towards the _Principia_, chanting the prophecy under his breath so he wouldn't forget it.

Unfortunately, when Leo burst into the fancy building and opened his mouth to demand an audience with the high and mighty praetors, they were already occupied. A girl, maybe a year or two younger than Leo, was standing in front of the cluttered table and looking at her feet. Both Hazel and Frank stared at her like she was a ghost.

"I need to talk to you," Leo blurted, figuring what he had to say was more important than anything to do with the girl.

Hazel and Frank's eyes both flew to Leo, and the startled girl whirled around to face him. Leo's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he got his first good look at her. She was _creepy_. Her eyes and hair were both the color of super dark chocolate- like as dark brown as something can get without being black- and her skin was _white_. Not porcelain white, but corpse white. Almost like it used to be darker but had gotten all of the color sucked out of it. Her features were pretty, he supposed, but there was an aura of scary around her that made it incredibly hard to notice.

There was only one person Leo had ever met to whom he could compare the girl; Nico di Angelo. Nico was a relatively okay looking dude in Leo's opinion- although Leo had to admit he wasn't exactly an expert on the attractiveness of other guys- but people steered clear of him because he was so terrifying.

That's what this girl was. She was totally harmless looking, and yet… she _scared _Leo, who'd faced giants and rogue earth goddesses and extremely butt-hurt narcissists named Narcissus.

"What are you doing here?" Frank asked.

"We can't talk right now," said Hazel.

Leo shook his head and tore his eyes away from the scary girl. "It's super important." He took a deep breath. "Rachael told me she had a feeling that something big was about to go down in Camp Jupiter, so I flew over on Festus to check things out; I was just on my way to tell you about it when I ran into Ella."

"The harpy?" asked Hazel.

"Uh-huh. And you'll never guess what she told me."

"That you're an elf?" That was Frank. Of course.

"Frank," Hazel snapped. She frowned at Leo. "And unless she spewed out an extremely important prophecy, we really don't have time to hear it. We got a… a strange visitor just an hour ago, and-"

"It _was_ a prophecy," Leo cut in. He raked a hand through his curly hair and swallowed hard. "A bad one. She mentioned fighting giants, and people suffering, and… well, she kind of talked about your dad."

The room went dead quiet. Frank's eyes were huge, Hazel looked like she was about to throw up, and the girl didn't say anything, just studied her feet like they were the most interesting things in the world.

"Do you remember the prophecy?" Hazel finally choked out.

"I think so," said Leo. He cleared his throat. "Shortly before the ultimate fight, To earth shall return Hades' angel of white. To embark on a quest to find a godly friend, And battle with giants 'til the bitter end. Choices will be made and many will suffer, And the angel will reunite with either father or brother."

Hazel's expression would've been funny if the situation wasn't so messed up; her jaw dropped to the floor, her eyes went wide, and she actually brought a hand up to her heart, like southern belles did in old movies whenever they got scared. For some reason, the prophecy even got a reaction out of the pale girl. Her eyes were widened even bigger than Hazel's.

"A-angel of white?" the girl stuttered. She had a pretty voice, for being so terrifying. Quiet and musical and easy to listen to. "Are you sure?"

"Yup," said Leo. "Which I think is kind of crazy, since Hades is definitely more of a black kind of guy, but I'm _sure _that's what Ella said…"

"Bianca di Angelo," Hazel whispered in realization, her eyes fixed on the girl. "Bianca means white… and di Angelo is 'of the angels'. You were dead and returned to earth… and you're Hades' daughter. Hades' angel of white. That… that prophecy-"

"Wait," Leo butted in. He swore that he heard Hazel say 'Bianca di Angelo'. As in the dead girl that Percy had told him about. The one who'd gone off to be reborn, who was gone forever. "Bianca di Angelo? Is this happy coincidence or something, or is that Mister Scary Ghost King's _sister_?"

"It's her," Frank said. He paused. "Or at least we're pretty sure. She can't remember anything except for her name, but there probably aren't very many half-bloods named 'Bianca di Angelo' around. Especially not ones who look so much like Nico."

"She can't remember anything?"

The girl shook her head and answered for herself. "I woke up at the Wolf House, and Lupa said that I'd taken a memory potion… and that's all I really know. Everything else is a blank."

Leo blinked. Holy Hephaestus.

He said the only thing he could think of. "We have to tell Nico."

"Leo-" warned Frank.

"Don't 'Leo' me. He has to know. He like… he's been so screwed up since he got out of Tartarus, and this would help him out so much, but-"

"But she doesn't remember him," Frank interrupted. "And you heard the prophecy. It said, 'the angel will reunite with either father or brother.' So either she'll reunite with Pluto… or Hades or whoever, and die, or she'll see Nico _after _the prophecy is fulfilled. So why get his hopes up if it might not make any difference?"

"_Frank_," Hazel said. Her lips turned down into a frown, and Leo wondered if this hadn't been what they were talking about when he barged in. "Nico should know."

"Come on," said Frank. "Think about what would happen if Nico learned that his sister is alive, and then she gets sent back to the underworld before he even has the chance to see her."

Hazel didn't look convinced, but then Bianca softly spoke up, "He's right. It would be best not to say anything until the prophecy is fulfilled… Maybe I'll even have my memory back by then, so I can recognize my brother when I see him."

"Well. Okay then." Hazel didn't look pleased, and Leo knew it was because she was the only one who had a personal relationship with Nico. She knew exactly how happy seeing his sister again would make him, and Nico really needed something like that. Leo almost cracked- he hated seeing Hazel unhappy- but even Bianca agreed it was best to wait. Begrudgingly, he kept his mouth shut. "But what are we going to do about the quest?"

"Usually the person who receives it picks two people to go with them, and then the group sets off ASAP," Leo volunteered. "Or at least that's how things roll at Camp Half Blood."

"But the quest is about Bianca," said Frank. "If we did things like you Greeks do, you would be considered the leader."

"Well… then let her pick." Leo shrugged. "I'm cool with not being in charge. I mean, as long as I get to tag along." Honestly, he really didn't want to go at all, but he had a gut feeling that he was supposed to. Even Apollo must have agreed; or at least Leo supposed that the sun god was the one who gave Rachael that hunch to send him off to California.

"I think Frank and I should go," Hazel argued. "The prophecy was given out at Camp Jupiter, and if you and Bianca both go, that's two Greeks on the quest. It doesn't make sense."

Everyone looked to Bianca for her opinion, but she wasn't looking at them anymore; her eyes had returned to the floor. For a daughter of Hades, she sure seemed to have confidence issues. Leo wondered how she was ever going to lead a quest.

"Well…" Bianca bit her lip. "Frank is the son of Ares, or Mars… whoever. And Hazel is Pluto's daughter." She looked at Leo. "What about you?"

"Hephaestus," he said. Knowing that Mars and Pluto definitely sounded more legit, he quickly added, "I got pyrokinesis from him. I mean, I can make fire shoot out of my hands. And I'm good with machines, too. If you bring me along, transportation and technology would all be a piece of cake."

To his surprise, Bianca smiled. She had a weird smile; a quirky little grin that seemed to be fake and genuine at the same time. It was oddly cute. Her teeth were white and straight, and her nose crinkled a little, making her look not quite so scary.

Cute. Huh. Maybe Bianca wasn't quite his type- he usually went for beautiful, immortal, and totally out of his league- but she was definitely adorable in a creepy, angel of death kind of way. Although Nico would be a terrifying overprotective brother to run into. Oh, and hadn't someone said something about Bianca being a Hunter of Artemis? Although she _had_ died, so maybe that didn't apply anymore…

"I want Leo with," Bianca announced, tearing Leo away from his thoughts. "I had a dream before I left the Wolf House, and… everything was dark. Like, all of the lights were going out everywhere, and the whole world was turning black. So I think it'd be good to have someone along who can make fire."

"Awesome!" Leo said. He took a couple steps forward and held up a hand for a high-five. Bianca stared, and Leo frowned. Nico didn't understand the concept of high-fives either. Poor kids. They were born before all the cool stuff was invented. "Aaaalrighty… how about a handshake instead?"

Bianca looked at him like he was crazy, but did extend her hand. Leo took it and made a face as soon as his skin touched hers; she was cold as a corpse. Hazel didn't feel like that, although Leo supposed that was probably because she was a daughter of Pluto, not Hades. Pluto was mostly associated with riches, while Hades was Mister Death himself. Hence Hazel's gold-summoning and Nico and Bianca's icy paleness.

Personally, Leo thought Hazel had gotten the better end of the bargain. Then again, Nico could control skeleton warriors and managed to get the title 'King of Ghosts,' so maybe the death thing was just a _little _beast.

After a second, Bianca let go and frowned at him. "You're hot."

Leo smirked. "You aren't so bad yourself, _chica_. Angel is definitely the right word-"

"Leo," snapped Hazel.

"Sorry. Habit. Anyhow, who's going to be our third quester? Hazel? Franklin? I know some Camp Half-Blood homies I could send for-"

Bianca ignored Leo and looked at Hazel. "Who was the boy who led me here? The one who'd been guarding the gate?"

Leo frowned. The boy guarding the gate? If Bianca had come an hour before, Leo figured they would have ran into the same guard, and, well… he still hadn't forgotten the way the guy gleefully offered to poke his eyes out. It looked like he'd been serious, too; the spear had been raised and everything. By Leo's judging, the dude at the gate definitely wasn't someone he wanted watching his back while he slept. Hell, he'd probably be as dangerous as any giants they were scheduled to face.

"Austin Dupois?" Hazel looked at Frank. "It isn't Austin's shift, is it?"

"Um… I think it is." Frank looked at Bianca. "Why would you want Austin?"

"Yeah," said Leo. "Why would you want Austin? _El es_ _un poco loco_."

He also couldn't help but remember how 'good-looking' this Austin character had been; tall and strong, with bright blue eyes. Girls liked bright blue eyes, even if Leo had thought they were extremely creepy. If it was the guard he was thinking of, well… Leo cringed, imagining another quest like his last one. The 'Prophecy of Seven' it had been called. Ha. More like the prophecy of three clingy couples and the awkward seventh wheel. Now this quest was already shaping up like it was going to be 'Bianca and Scary Guard Guy' plus the cumbersome, unwanted elf on the side.

Leo just hoped they didn't get to the 'making out' phase while he was still around. That had the potential to be beyond uncomfortable.

"Call it a funny feeling…" said Bianca.

"Austin _would_ be useful," Hazel said slowly, like she was coming around to the idea.

"Which one is Austin?" Leo asked. "He isn't the one who was guarding the tunnel when I stopped by, is he? Because he tried to kill me. Too violent, that one is-"

"Violence is good on a quest," said Hazel. "And Austin is… special." She nodded. "If you can get Austin to go with you, then go ahead. He's trustworthy enough, I suppose. Just… make sure you keep him under control. Leo is right. He is a little violent."

"I don't like Austin," Frank said, as if that would make a difference.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Bianca said. She looked at Leo. "You can come, too. I mean… if you want. Since we're all going to be going on the quest together."

Leo thought this over. He could either stay and watch Frank and Hazel make lovey eyes at each other, wander the streets of camp and pray no bloodthirsty Romans were in the mood for Greek stew, or follow a scary daughter of Hades to talk with a random, spear-wielding, Greek-hating Roman demigod.

So many wonderful, wonderful choices.

"Er... I guess I can come with you?"

He said it like a question.

"Alright." Bianca sent a strange smile at Hazel and Frank- a shattered glass smile that kind of reminded him of Nico's eyes- and told them, "I… I'm sorry that I made things so complicated. I really wish that I could tell you what's going on."

"It's okay, Bianca," said Hazel. "But if you remember anything, please let us know."

"I promise I will."

Then she turned to leave. Leo gave the two Praetors a lazy salute, rolling his eyes when Frank said, "Don't be late for Evening Muster!"

"Yes, Mother!" Leo called over his shoulder.

Then Bianca and he left the _Principia _to find the third member of their quest.

**xxx**

**Author's Note- **

**This is my first Percy Jackson fic, and I'll admit I'm unsure of what kind of response it's going to get. It is an entirely new storyline, involving a unique and separate quest with a totally different set of characters than one would generally expect to see in a fic like this. I do have the story plotted out, but it isn't all written yet. If people seem to enjoy it, I'll continue. If not, I'll likely delete it and try something else. **

**Anyway, please review and tell me what you think, and if anything is confusing, let me know and I'll try to clear it up. **


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

It was one of those days that was so sunny it hurt. Nico had never been a fan of anything happy or cheery, but after spending so much time in Tartarus, sunlight bothered him even more than before. His soul seemed to fade ten shades darker in contrast with the extra brightness, and Nico hated it. Just because he'd accidentally broken himself didn't mean he enjoyed having it rubbed in his face.

The fact that everyone else at Camp Half-Blood was so damn cheerful didn't help matters. Really, Nico would have rather been anywhere else, but Percy wouldn't let him leave. Apparently his cousin thought that Nico 'spent too much time in the underworld' and 'needed a little sun'. Sun his ass. What Nico needed was to get away from the singing Apollo fags and bitchy Aphrodite whores.

Nico frowned. Since when had he gotten _that_ harsh? He was starting to sound like his father.

Maybe a few days of "cheerful" would do him some good.

Of course, at the thought, the little part of Nico that Tartarus had broken started to protest._ "Life sucks," _it said. "_People die. Pain is everywhere. Everything is dark and terrible and nothing matters at all. People live their lives, they move on and are forgotten. It is a long, terrible, never-ending cycle and it's depressing, so why would I want to be cheerful? Cheerful people are the idiots who don't understand, who-" _

"Nico?"

Nico exhaled sharply. He recognized the voice. The stupid Dare girl. Miss Bright and Cheerful herself, although he also supposed that at least she had a limit, unlike some people he knew. Percy, for instance. His cousin always worked his ass off to find light where there was none, which was something that drove Nico up the wall. As a son of Hades, he knew that if something shitty was happening, there weren't going to be any fancy rainbows hiding behind the shit. Just more shit, probably smellier than the stuff on top.

"Yeah?" Nico muttered. He was on his way to breakfast, which he'd planned to be a quiet affair. Didn't look like that was going to happen. Not unless Dare took a hike.

"I think-" Rachael stopped walking and her knees locked. Nico turned around slowly, frowning when he saw the blank expression on her face. She stared at him for a moment, and then her eyes closed and she swooned like she was about to fall. Nico reflexively reached out to catch her. Nothing happened for a long time, and then eyes reopened, now a glowing green.

Nico's brain got over its shock just quickly enough not to be entirely freaked out when smoke streamed from Rachael's mouth, and she started speaking in a raspy, snake-like voice.

_"You shall face he who planned the Titans to raise; _

_You shall fight with Darkness, Death and Suffocating Haze._

_On your quest you will find love and light,_

_During an improbable rush to save friends from plight. _

_Many will stumble and some may fall._

_Success returns she you miss most; Failure means losing all_

Nico cursed in Greek as Rachael's body went completely limp. No. No. No. _HELL NO. _He wasn't going anywhere near a quest. He'd half died- hell, his soul practically _had _died- the last time he got wrapped up in one, and that was when he wasn't even part of the stupid prophecy. This sounded a million times worse. Failure means losing all? But…

Rachael eyes refocused and she seemed to get her legs underneath her again. Nico immediately backed away, then demanded, "What did you mean by 'Success returns she you miss most?'"

Rachael blinked. "Did I just give a prophecy?"

"Yes!" said Nico. He exhaled and raked a hand through his too-long hair. Nico didn't miss anyone, especially not any girls... Not except for his sister; his sister who'd been reborn and was gone forever. So it couldn't possibly be her. It _couldn't _be. But… "It… it was important." Nico chastised himself. He couldn't get excited about this. It would just be another disappointment.

Still… If there was any chance at all that he could find his sister, Nico was going to take it. He'd had absolutely nothing for so long, but hearing that prophecy… it gave him hope. So maybe some parts of it were a little depressing, but Nico didn't care. Everything would be worth it If he could get Bianca back.

"How important?" asked Rachael. "What did I say?"

"Hardly matters," said Nico. He took a second to tell off the part of his brain that was reminding him the 'she' in the prophecy couldn't possibly be Bianca, and then, with one last glance at the oracle, he sprinted off to the dining pavilion. Chiron would almost certainly be there. He needed to talk to him, to get the quest going right away.

People started whispering as soon as they saw Nico running. He usually could hardly be bothered to walk any faster than a sluggish saunter. Well, or, if he was really lazy, he shadow traveled where he needed to go. For Nico to be in any kind of hurry was odd, and for him to be frantic was downright troubling.

_Good_, thought Nico. _Let them be troubled. _

Nico screeched to a halt in front of the main table and, ignoring Dionysus, looked straight at an obviously surprised Chiron and panted, "I just got a quest. Rachael… she gave me a quest, and we have to get started."

"I can't understand you," said Chiron. "Please slow down, Nico."

"I said Rachael gave me a quest," Nico said, working hard to keep the annoyance out of his tone. This was urgent! Why wasn't Chiron acting like it was urgent? "A quest that we need to set out on right away."

"I haven't seen you this worked up in years. What is the quest about, Nico?"

"B-Bianca," said Nico. Several people, the ones who were closest to him, fell silent. It was considered a taboo at Camp Half-Blood to mention her name. Nico knew that people worried he'd freak out on them for it. Honestly, he probably would. "I think it might be about Bianca. We need to get started, to do _something_!"

Chiron cleared his throat, his eyes clouded with a mixture of surprise and worry. "Yes, of course." He turned towards the other campers and announced, "I would like the heads of every cabin to meet in the Big House immediately. Nico has just been issued a quest."

Nico cringed; that hadn't been necessary. He'd been hoping that Chiron would give him permission to steal two campers and sneak away without any sort of fuss, but any chance of that happening faded away with the centaur's dramatic announcement. Murmuring broke out everywhere, and the few campers who'd heard Bianca's name started spreading rumors like wildfire. Nico didn't care; he ignored the stupid rumors and started speed-walking to the Big House, wanting to get the technicalities out of the way as soon as possible.

The sooner the quest started, the sooner he'd get Bianca back.

_It might not even be her, _ Nico reminded himself. _Don't get your hopes up._

Of course, he couldn't follow his own advice. Don't get his hopes up? That was impossible. There weren't exactly a lot of candidates for people he missed most, and if the prophecy really was about Bianca, then everything it said about failing would become irrelevant. Nico was willing to hopscotch through Tartarus a hundred times over for his sister; if he had to, he'd _will _the quest into being successful.

"Um… Nico?"

Nico figured he must have imagined the voice and kept walking. No one talked to him, and-

"Nico!"

He stopped and turned on his heel, eyes narrowed.

"_What_?" he snapped impatiently. He had things to plan, thoughts to simmer over, and, well… a million other things that were more important than socializing with some stupid demigod.

Nico glared down at the person who had the gall to interrupt his brooding. He vaguely recognized her as the girl who took over as Demeter's head counselor after Katie left, although he had no idea what her name was. She looked insane: there were smudges of dirt all over her coffee-colored skin, her dark hair was frizzing out in wild curls around her head, and the too-big basketball shorts and ratty tank top she wore both seemed to be made out of mud. To top the whole look off, she was barefoot and wearing lime green gardening gloves.

Definitely insane.

"You're technically Persephone's half-sister," Nico said without preamble.

"Huh?"

"She turned me into a dandelion."

He continued walking, figuring no other explanation was necessary. Really, Demeter was an old coot, Persephone scared him, and all things to do with plants were evil. Nico even sometimes walked by Demeter's cabin on purpose, just so he could watch their flowers wither at his presence.

Living through Tartarus blackened his heart to the point that he enjoyed such things.

"But I want to talk to you!" said the Demeter girl. She jogged up alongside him and started doing an awkward walk-shuffle-skip thing to keep pace with his long strides. "It's about the quest."

Nico started walking faster. "What about the quest?"

"I want to go with."

Aaaaand… no more walking. Nico stopped dead in his tracks, and Miss Demeter screeched to a halt half a foot in front of him.

It was a ridiculous notion, that a girl who looked as if she spent most of her time splashing around in the mud willingly wanted to go on a dangerous mission. Nothing about her gave any indication that she was a fighter, and Nico doubted she had an aggressive bone in her body. Nico may not have given much of a crap as to who went on the quest with him, but letting some crazy plant chick tag along wasn't an option. He couldn't afford to have anyone holding him back.

"No," said Nico.

"But…" The girl trailed off, like she was waiting for Nico to stop her, then pulled up short when he didn't. "Er… I…" She swallowed. "Well…"

"I don't have all day."

The girl took a nervous breath. "Sorry. Um… I was on this quest last year, actually. It was really simple; I had to find something for my mom, but… one of my sisters and I ran into this goddess… she didn't tell me who she was, but I just _knew _she was a goddess-"

"Your point?"

"My point… uh, well… she said that Demeter's hatred of Hades was unhealthy and that it was only a matter of time before my mom tried keeping Persephone at Mount Olympus-"

"Let the bitch stay at Mount Olympus," said Nico honestly. "I don't give a shit."

The girl frowned. Nico wasn't sure if it was at his language, or the fact that he was badmouthing a goddess was technically her sister.

"Maybe you don't care, but… your father would, and he matters more. Besides… Persephone being on Mount Olympus year-round would mess up the seasons and everything. She needs to be in the underworld, and if Demeter would try to mess with Hades, the gods would start fighting again. And normally I'd try to stay out of it, but… this goddess, she told me that I was supposed to make everything better, and she said that I'd do that by helping you. And this is the first opportunity that I've really gotten a chance to do that, so…"

Nico studied the girl more closely. She was small and shy and what he assumed was uncharacteristically determined to tag along on his quest. Nico wondered what goddess could possibly have suggested that sheplay any significant role on Mount Olympus; she hardly looked the part of a demigod, let alone one with the potential to be important.

"I don't think so," said Nico. "You'd just get hurt."

"I'm not as weak as I look!" the girl protested. "I've been on two quests before, and I was fine both times. Besides… I'm head of my cabin for a reason."

"The only reason that you're head of your cabin is because you're the least pathetic pansy in the bunch," said Nico. It was mean, but he was in a hurry and the stupid girl wouldn't leave him alone. "Now, I have something important to do, so I'd really appreciate it if you went back to playing in the mud."

Nico was sure that would get the girl off his back, and, satisfied, turned away from her and continued his walk. He got about two steps before he felt something like a snake wind around his ankle. He tried to yank his foot free, then cursed loudly when sharp thorns tore through his jeans and into his leg, sticking deep inside the skin. When he looked down, Nico saw that a thick vine had grown out of the ground and was wrapped halfway up his calf, with huge thorns sticking out of every other inch of the thing.

"What. The. Hell?"

The girl ran up in front of him, and Nico felt himself in terrible danger of softening when he saw guilt written all over her face. "I'm so, _so _sorry, but I really need to go on this quest with you. I mean... what that goddess said, and then I have this feeling… I have a friend from Apollo's cabin who can heal your leg- I tried not to make it hurt too much- but you have to listen to me. Please…"

Nico tore his eyes away from her, instead choosing to stare at the vine around his leg until his son-of-death powers kicked in. He waited several moments for it to wither away, but it wouldn't. The girl was making a conscious effort to keep it alive.

Smart… resourceful…

Well, Nico supposed that if he wasn't going to be picky as to who his quest-mates were, he might as well pick someone who was eager to go.

"Fine…" He made a face. "What's your name?"

The girl smiled. "Lily Hale."

"A daughter of Demeter named Lily?" Nico snorted. "Wonderful. A walking cliché."

The girl pursed her lips, but didn't say anything as she waved a hand at the vine growing around Nico's leg. There was a moment of pain when the thorns tore out of the skin, but Nico hardly felt it; physical pain didn't mean much to him anymore. When he was free, he began limping the last twenty feet to the Big House without a glance in Lily's direction.

"Well… can I go?" Lily asked tentatively from behind him.

"I wouldn't have bothered learning your name otherwise," Nico muttered reluctantly.

"Really?" He knew that she was smiling; he could _feel _it. "I mean… I…" She took a deep breath. "Thank you, Nico."

"You shouldn't be thanking me."

He walked slowly up the stairs to the Big House and threw open the door, letting it fly shut behind him. He heard Lily manage to catch it just in time. He could almost feel her asking what reason she could possibly have for not thanking him, but Nico wasn't in the mood to elaborate. When they were out in the middle of nowhere, searching for some kind of clue as to what they were supposed to do next and trying to survive with too-little money, all while fighting off ferocious monsters, well… then she'd figured out why it would've been kinder of him to make her let the goddess down.

"Well… okay, Nico," said Lily.

Without another word, Nico pretended to ignore the girl at his back and headed straight for the rec room. His conversation had delayed him enough that most of the other counselors were already there when he arrived. Percy and Annabeth were sharing a loveseat, holding each other's hands and looking so content that Nico wanted to barf. His other cousin, Jason, had stuck around with the Greeks after the war and was having an obnoxiously loud conversation with the remaining Stoll brother, who was sitting clear across the room. Nico grit his teeth; most of the other counselors seemed to be about as relaxed about the whole thing as Jason. He could almost hear what they were thinking: 'Aw, poor Nico's freaking out about his sister again. It's been seven years… really, he just needs to get over her.'

Except Bianca hadn't just been his sister. She'd been his mother, his best friend… the one person in his life he could always count on, and, if he was being technical about the whole thing, they'd been ridiculously close for over seventyyears. Losing someone like that, especially without ever getting to say goodbye, well… it was terrible.

Then there was the other problem, the biggest reason he couldn't get over her. The reason that he'd never tell anyone because he knew they wouldn't be able to understand it.

Nico knew he had a problem with grudges. If someone did something wrong, even if he forgave them, he wouldn't forget their mistake. He'd take stock of the wrongdoing and file it away in his head, and a part of him would _always _hold it against that person. He even still had an ugly feeling whenever Percy would try to promise him something or reassure him about anything; it always came back to that first promise he had made, the promise he had broken so spectacularly.

The thing was though, that Percy wasn't Nico's problem. He didn't blame the other boy for Bianca dying. He blamed him for not saving her, but there was a difference. Bianca's death… it had been because of a stupid mythomagic figure that _he_ hadn't been able to shut up about, a figure that she'd been trying to get for _him_. So maybe he would have been able to get over Bianca, maybe her death wouldn't have hit him so hard, if he didn't know that it was entirely his fault, that there was no one to blame but himself.

Living with a terrible, all-consuming grudge was always a bad thing. When that grudge was held against oneself, however, it became that much more devastating. That was why Nico _needed _to get his sister back. Because he had to make up for killing her in the first place.

When Lily closed the door behind her with a subtle click, everyone's eyes flew immediately to Nico and an uneasy silence settled across the room. Every ADHD demigod in the place obviously wanted to start moving and chatting again, but no one dared to with him there. While he was usually ignored, people were too scared to want to cross him now that he was front and center.

Uneasily, Nico took several steps into the room and plopped down on a ratty old chair. His eyes followed Lily as she stepped out from behind him and made a beeline towards the chair in the furthest corner of the room. Without even glancing at anyone else, she sat down and hugged her dirty knees to her chest. With all eyes on him, it didn't seem like a single person noticed that she was even there.

Well, at least Nico hadn't gotten coerced into letting an attention-seeking Aphrodite shrew go.

"So…" Percy tried, attempting to break the tense silence. "What kind of prophecy did Rachael give you?"

Nico opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when the door flew open. The last few counselors all rushed in together, and Rachael and Chiron both followed closely behind them. Chiron didn't hesitate before he officially started the meeting.

"Nico, I think that we all need to hear the prophecy before we take any further action. If you would do the honors…" He waved towards Nico, giving him the signal to stand and speak.

Great. More attention. And Nico was a shit public speaker if he ever saw one. With a frown, he got to his feet and slowly ambled to the middle of the room. Then, awkwardly, he cleared his throat and began to recite in as detached a monotone as he could manage:

"_You shall face he who planned the Titans to raise; _

_You shall fight with Darkness, Death and Suffocating Haze._

_On your quest you will find love and light_-"

"Oh my gods!"

Nico clamped his mouth shut and immediately sent a glare out in the general direction of the voice. His eyes narrowed when he saw Piper McLean sink back into her chair with her hands over her mouth. What in Hades's name was she going on about-

Nico ran over the last line of the prophecy in his head, did a mental double-take, then thought it over again, eyes widening as the meaning sunk in. He hadn't hardly comprehended the first lines of the prophecy when Rachael said it initially, had been too surprised and horrified that there was a prophecy being made to begin with. Maybe he should have listened more closely though, because he _obviously _hadn't memorized it right.

"Shit…" He caught Chiron's eyes and quickly amended, "I mean, uh… _crap_. I must not have gotten it right. It didn't say that." He glanced at Rachael, who was biting back a smile. "It… it didn't say that, did it?"

"Um. Yeah, Nico. It kind of did."

His cheeks burned bright red, and _that _led to more whispering. Piper still looked humiliated that she'd had such an Aphrodite reaction, but no one else seemed to care. Prophecies hardly ever talked about anything even vaguely romantic, and the idea that the soulless Nico di Angelo would apparently find 'love' on his quest was shocking. Scowling fiercely, Nico opened his mouth to tell everyone to shut up and listen to the important part of the prophecy- the part that wasn't total bull- but Chiron beat him to the punch.

"Yes, I know that line may be rather… surprising, but please, allow Nico to continue. I assume that he is not finished yet."

"No," Nico said darkly. "I'm not finished yet." He leveled Piper with a steely glare that had even her, one of the bravest girls he knew, shrinking into Jason's side, and then continued,

"_During an improbable rush to save friends from plight. _

_Many will stumble and some may fall._

_Success returns she you miss most; Failure means losing all." _

The lightheartedness was sucked out of the room, and everyone went silent.

"Annabeth," said Chiron, "do you have any idea as to what this might mean?"

"I… I think Nico is right about his sister," said Annabeth slowly. Nico felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders; he wasn't the only person who thought so then. That made him feel less crazy. "A lot of the rest of it is self-explanatory. Fighting with death, darkness, and suffocating haze… I _think _that would mean Nico would be using those things to fight, not that he'd go against them. I mean, they're what his father has the strongest control over, so it would make sense that 'fighting with' doesn't' mean fighting against, but rather using, right?"

Chiron nodded. "Yes, that seems quite sensible."

"And…" Annabeth looked at Nico and smiled apologetically. "The love and light… I think that's kind of self-explanatory. Just like the 'Many may stumble and some may fall' line. That leaves the first line I don't get, and… well, the line about saving friends, but I… I think that part might have something to do with Leo."

"He only would've gotten to Camp Jupiter a few hours ago," Jason argued. "Leo isn't going to recruit multiple people and lead them into danger _that _fast-"

"Jason, honey," Piper said. "It's Leo."

That deflated the room a bit. Even though he spent most of his time off by himself, even Nico knew that Leo was one of the more well-liked people at camp. Knowing that part of his quest could possibly involve an 'improbable rush to save him made everyone a little nervous.

"Well, this sounds like a joyful enough quest," Connor Stoll said, clapping his hands together brightly. "…It also sounds kind of urgent, so I'm thinking Nico should get going ASAP." Connor looked at Nico. "Who's all going with you?"

"Um, Lily… Lily… oh, shit." Chiron opened his mouth to scold him, and Nico cursed again. He'd gotten too used to mirroring his dad's language after spending so much time in the underworld. "I mean… ah, screw it. Lily what's-her-name is going." He looked at Lily and shrugged. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Lily said, very clearly trying to ignore all the eyes that had flown in her direction.

"Why her?" Annabeth asked, not in a bad way, but like she was genuinely curious.

"I was coerced into it," said Nico simply. He addressed the rest of the room. "Then, whoever else wants to go can tag along. I don't really give a sh… _hoot_."

No one moved. Nico didn't miss the way that Percy and Annabeth moved more closely together, like they were worried he'd try to forcefully tear them apart. Piper and Jason did the same thing. Nyssa, who must have been covering for Leo, shook her head emphatically, and Will Solace mouthed a subtle, "Sorry, dude."

Nico let his gaze wander around the room, for a moment worrying that no one was going to volunteer, but finally Connor, the last remaining half of the Stoll brothers, sighed dramatically and got lazily to his feet.

"Fine, if no one else'll do it, I'll go." He smiled at Nico, and the son of Hades immediately got the feeling that it would be best for him to backtrack and say he decided to personally pick someone a little more… mature, to accompany him instead. "You know, di Angelo, they're all more scared of you than the quest, anyway."

"Wonderful," Nico said sarcastically. He glanced at Connor, who was probably the most childish person in the room despite getting ready to head off to college next fall, and then turned his gaze to Lily, the daughter of Demeter, which made him dislike her more than he should have right off the bat.

Well… he supposed anyone would have been a downgrade after traveling with the seven demigods from the last prophecy. Still… a son of Hermes and a daughter of Demeter? That was just asking for a disaster.

"Oh, don't worry, friend. We'll do you well." Connor spread his hands wide and grinned broadly. "Now, do I have a surprise for you. Since you're so much more comfortable on the ground, Travis just got a car from our dad, and it's _sweet_-"

"If we take a car with, there isn't much chance that it'll come back," Nico said slowly.

"That's why we're taking Travis's," said Connor. "So I say that you shadow-travel us to Buffalo, we steal the car, and then we can drive… wherever."

"If Annabeth is right and Leo is the one we're going to rescue, he'll probably be heading east from California, right? So maybe we should start out by driving in that general direction. Something exciting will happen eventually. Or at least it usually does."

Nico looked at Lily in surprise. Huh. Maybe she did have her uses.

"Sounds… good, I guess," said Nico. "It's a decent plan anyway."

"Wonderful. So we'll go get packed up and grab some supplies, then meet back here in an hour?" asked Connor, now addressing just Nico and Lily. They both nodded, and Connor smiled in satisfaction, evidently content with taking over the quest. That was fine by Nico. He was a cruddy leader anyway. "Great." He skipped towards the door. "I'll see you then."

Nico and Lily exchanged a glance. Both of them looked at Chiron for confirmation, and when he shrugged as if to say 'What are you waiting for?' they both left the Big House as well. Lily immediately headed towards Demeter's cabin, and Nico branched off towards his own.

That had been a quick meeting, thankfully. Now, if he and Annabeth were correct, there was only an hour left before he would begin his journey to reunite with his sister.

Well, and save the world. But mostly the first thing.

xxx

**Author's Note- **

**I still don't know if I'll keep going with this or not, but I have a couple more chapters written out, and after that I'll see if people think I should continued. And for AvalonJackson21, Rachael is the oracle. She first appeared around halfway through the original series I think, as a mortal who could see through the mist. She was Percy's girlfriend for a while, and after they broke up, Apollo gifted (cursed?) her with the Oracle of Delphi so she could make prophecies and issue quests. **

**I think that's everything, but please review! **


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